John was born in Montreal in 1944. His earliest painting classes were with Alfred Pinsky and Arthur Lismer. After high school he studied civil engineering, which he would eventually leave to pursue painting. In 1968, he joined the New School of Art in Toronto and after one year, travelled to Nice in southern France to work at the Centre Artistique de Rencontres Internationales (part of the Ecole Nationale d'art Decoratif de Nice). In 1970 he took up studio space in Cagnes (near Nice) where he painted, surrounded by the spirit of some of the French masters Pierre Renoir, Amedeo Modigliani and Claude Pissarro.

His work has evolved from colour-field, through photo-realism, into a soft and quiet style of realism that is often referred to as hyper-surrealism. Following early exhibitions in London, England and Paris, France John returned to Canada finding a studio space in Quebec where he currently resides.

Awards & Memberships

1994

The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, member

1973

Salon d’Été, Grasse, France Médaille d’or / Gold medal

Public & Private Collections

A & F Baillargeon, Pointe Claire, QC

Afasic Association, London, England

Art Bank, Federal Government of Canada, Ottawa, ON

Bishop’s University, Lennoxville, QC

Byers Casgrain, Montréal, QC

Canada Packers, Toronto, ON

Claridge Investments Ltd., Montréal, QC

Counsel Corporation, Toronto, ON

Crownx, Toronto, ON

Genstar, San Francisco, CA

Loto-Québec, Montréal, QC

Prolith Inc., Montréal, QC

Shearman & Sterling, New York, NY

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2011

Odon Wagner Contemporary, Toronto, ON

2009

Musée des beaux-arts de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC

2005

Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, QC

1998

Arts Sutton Gallery, Sutton, QC

1997

Bishop’s University Artists’ Center, Lennoxville, QC

1990

West-End Gallery, Montréal, QC

1986

West-End Gallery, Montréal, QC

1984

Yaneff Gallery, Toronto, ON

1983

West-End Gallery, Montréal, QC

1979

West-End Gallery, Montréal, QC

1978

Cultural Centre, Cowansville, QC

1973

Ibis Gallery, London, England

Selected Group Exhibitions

2010-14

Art Toronto, Odon Wagner Contemporary, Toronto, ON

2008

Art Miami, Galerie de Bellefeuille, Miami, FL

2003-08

Toronto International Art Fair (TIAF), Galerie de Bellefeuille, Toronto, ON